COVID-19
During an outbreak of a new infectious disease such as COVID-19, it can be difficult to process what is happening. For me, there have been several resources and particularly great works of journalism that have helped me to understand the outbreak. I share most things via Twitter (@jkimmey), but I'll be compiling the ones I've found most helpful here for easy reference.
I believe the public health measures to encourage social distancing are 100% warranted and appropriate. For this reason, I have chosen to proactively support social distancing. As of Friday March 13, the Kimmey Lab has voluntarily suspended all in lab research activities until further notice. All members of the lab will continue to be paid 100% salaries and will continue research efforts electronically. This decision was an easy one to make, as I find it impossible to ignore the data. I am grateful to have complete support from my colleagues and department, who have made similar decisions for their labs.
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I urge others to do the same as possible. Some labs will not be able to fully shut down, due to critical experiments in progress, or irreplaceable research specimens etc. I believe it is our responsibility to postpone all non-essential research so that critical experiments can be completed safely. The same is true in the public sector. People need to get food. Some people have to go to work. For those of us with the luxury of this choice, I believe we all need to do our part to help make essential outings safe.
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These opinions are solely my own.
- Jacqueline Kimmey
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Authoritative Reports:
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Imperial College London (Reports)
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Journalism:
Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now - After reading this on March 12, I decided to suspend Kimmey Lab research. Incredible summary of what we know so far (written 3/10)
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Why COVID-19 is not the same as flu - March 5, 2020
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Visual explanation of how outbreaks spread, and why social distancing works - March 14, 2020
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Visual Maps / Models of possible COVID spread throughout the US - March 20, 2020
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Don't be patient 31- March 20, 2020 updated
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What comes next: from the former director of the CDC - March 21, 2020
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Raw Data Trackers:
John's Hopkins List of trackers and tools
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NextStrain - genetic mapping of virus sequence and evolution